Absolute Mortgage Banking

I’ve been fortunate to know and have business dealings with Eric Trailer and find him helpful as well as ethical. He is willing to spend that extra time to make me feel like I am the only one on his screen. Would recommend this business without any reservations on a heartbeat!

You can go to an online mortgage broker to save as much money as possible. Or you can pay a little more for a full service mortgage broker with expert advice and great service. They may matches interest rates, but they’ll get you on fees or points.
Chris Bridgman at Absolute Mortgage is a rare breed that offers both competitive rates/​fees as well as high touch service. He gave us a loan program that had interest rates and fees that matched any online lender. Believe me, I checked after he quoted us a rate, and there was no money to be saved by going elsewhere.
On top of that, Chris helped us figure out how to work around our non-​standard financial situation and credit complexities. When things started to look dicey, he was able to quarterback the communication between the various banks, credit agencies, and underwriters, getting them all to work together in my favor. Without his tenacity and creativity to find solutions, our loan would have fallen through. No discount rep would put that much personal effort to get it done.

We had the pleasure of working with Chris Bridgman for financing our first home purchase. Please know that irrespective of how many good things we try and write in this review, they wouldn’t do justice to his competency as a mortgage advisor!
The mortgage process is complex to begin with and if one encounters roadblocks along the way, it can get very stressful very quickly. At the time our offer was accepted (on the house we now live in), we were working with a different mortgage company. When their appraiser came back with an estimate that was clearly lacking in due diligence and full of random adjustments (e.g. penalizing the value of house by a whopping 10% for «too much road noise»!), we knew we were in trouble and needed to find another lender very very quickly. The finance contingency deadline was just 4 days away and we feared losing the house if we didn’t get a second appraisal in time — we’d put in a lot of research prior to making an offer and were confident that it was fair, not over-​the-​top.
It was at this point we met Chris via a referral from our Realtor. He understood the urgency of the deadline but didn’t make any tall claims about beating it. He exuded confidence, set realistic expectations and assured us he would push the process as hard as humanly possible. Over the next 24 hours, we went through multiple rounds of filling out forms and traded dozens of phone calls and emails to get the loan application ready. Chris fast-​tracked the (second) appraisal on the house and escalated to his management to ensure that, once the report came back, all the pieces were lined up to get us a loan approval. With just hours left before the finance contingency expired, the new appraisal report came in, fairly valuing the house as we’d been expecting /​hoping all along. Shortly thereafter, Chris confirmed our loan was approved.
The rest of the process to actually close on the house was handled equally competently and swiftly by Chris. At times that he expected to be unavailable, he gave us advance notice and made sure that one of his colleagues looked after our case. Chris kept on top of everything through prompt, professional, and courteous communication at all hours of the day and night (and weekends, if necessary). After hearing horror story after horror story of people being mistreated by banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis, it was almost a shock to see someone from the same industry (Chris) so personally committed to their client’s welfare and best interest. He has really earned our trust and we recommend his services wholeheartedly!

They made a mistake, admitted on the phone they they didn’t catch something as early as they should have (before I had paid for an appraisal) and they wouldn’t refund my money for the appraisal. That’s just bad business and the guy actually was screaming at me on the phone when I asked for a refund of the appraisal fee as they had made a mistake and it should never had gotten that far.
Bad customer service = bad company.

I used AMB to refinance my home last year and was very happy with their service. Not only was Yulin Lee able to get me the interest rate I was looking for, but she was also great at managing my expectations. I was given a clear outline of the process and timeline. I had many questions and Yulin quickly respond to each of my inquiries. I am a tough client to please and I would definitely use AMB again for my mortgage banking needs.

I have used Absolute for all my personal property and business property buys. They are really on the ball when it comes to what is going on in the finance world and that translate to the actual business. They are personable and friendly and overall all my dealings with them have been great. I have referred them many times over and will continue.

I’m a Realtor in Palo Alto, and have a choice of a number of mortgage banks that I can refer clients to. I send them to Absolute Mortgage because they are good at working with busy professionals and experienced homebuyers with complex financials. Their team approach means that they are available on weekends or if someone is on vacation, which means a lot in this 24×7 business. Because they were working with Absolute, one of my clients was able to purchase a property last year before it went on the market (I helped a little bit).
I can go on and on, but the best endorsement I can give is that Eric Trailer at Absolute did the mortgages for my own home and an investment property.

Do not use this bank. They have a charge of $ 625 for the initial pre-​qualify letter –just a standard letter to say that you’re qualified for a loan! They did not disclose this to us and once we decided we would go with a different bank, they decided to tell us about it.
I’ve written more details on my blog: